Sunday, April 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Ending Pakistan’s Proxy War in Afghanistan: New Paper by Chris Alexander

March 3, 2021
in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy Program, Indo-Pacific, Latest News, Middle East and North Africa, Papers, Releases, Security and defence - papers, Security studies / counterterrorism
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A

OTTAWA, ON (March 3, 2021): Alongside regimes in Russia, China and Iran, Pakistan deserves recognition as amongst the world’s greatest disruptors for its proxy war in Afghanistan. Many Canadians have lost their lives in pursuit of Afghanistan’s freedom and prosperity. Though the price was steep, Canada was a major contributor toward bringing greater stability to the country, strengthening a democratic government, empowering women and girls, and much more.

However, despite substantial efforts from the international community, Afghanistan remains mired in a worsening conflict – and these gains are increasingly under siege. In a new MLI paper titled “Ending Pakistan’s Proxy War in Afghanistan,” former Ambassador and Cabinet Minister Chris Alexander reveals the integral role of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as the principal and underlying cause of persistent war against Afghans and those who seek to help them.

Alexander argues that, instead of working to achieve stability under democratic institutions chosen by Afghans, Pakistan’s post-9/11 military leaders have “sheltered Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda while working to scale up military and terrorist campaigns prosecuted by the Taliban’s Quetta Shura, the Haqqani Network, and other groups.”

Alexander reveals that the Taliban and their allies have received unstinting support from Pakistan’s military for decades. This state terror as statecraft has systematically resulted in the Taliban’s capacity to continue engaging in terrorist activities. As a result, “ISI’s covert proxy war has killed a total of about 124,000 people to date – more than half of them Taliban fighters and nearly one third Afghan civilians,” notes Alexander.

Those responsible for the continuation of Pakistan’s proxy war in Afghanistan have not been held to account. This has enabled the impunity enjoyed by Pakistan’s military leaders.  “The regional conflict – and its resolution – is no longer about Afghanistan and Pakistan alone. It is about the credibility of international institutions, including the UN and NATO,” writes Alexander. “It is also about the future of proxy war as an instrument of policy – at a time when Russia’s Putin, Turkey’s Erdogan, Iran’s Khamenei, and others are eager to mimic ISI impunity.”

Alexander makes several recommendations, including calling on Pakistan to end its covert proxy war at the UN, sanctioning officials responsible for supporting terrorist organizations, listing Pakistan as an official state sponsor of terrorism until it ends its proxy war, suspending coalition force reductions pending an unconditional ceasefire, convening genuine peace negotiations between Kabul and Islamabad, and much more.

“By acting together, we can create a new anchor of stability for the world in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the benefits of which will be felt for generations to come. [These] strategic recommendations are made in this spirit.” The paper makes it clear that the principal beneficiaries of peace will be the large and growing populations of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose future the conflict now threatens.

This paper also represents the launch of an MLI project titled “An enduring commitment: Canada and the future of Afghanistan,” which aims to highlight the challenges facing Afghanistan – a country that Canada has made a substantial investment in.

“Afghanistan should not be viewed as an isolated conflict or state,” says Senior Fellow and Director of MLI’s Indo-Pacific Program, Jonathan Berkshire Miller. “Chris Alexander’s important paper is a much-needed addition toward understanding the role that Pakistan has played in undermining stability in Afghanistan.”

According to Shuvaloy Majumdar, MLI Program Director and Munk Senior Fellow for Foreign Policy, “Chris Alexander’s paper brings to bear all his rich experiences as one of Canada’s most accomplished diplomats, a former Cabinet Member, and an exceptionally qualified expert on Afghanistan. It represents a seminal contribution.”

To better understand why Pakistan is engaging in a proxy war in Afghanistan, and what policy-makers can do to end it, read the full paper here. To learn more about MLI’s project on Afghanistan, subscribe to our mailing list.

***

Chris Alexander served for eighteen years as a Canadian diplomat, including as the first resident Canadian Ambassador to Afghanistan. In 2011, he published The Long Way Back: Afghanistan’s Quest for Peace, winner of the Huguenot Society of Canada Award. He was MP for Ajax-Pickering from 2011 to 2015, serving as Parliamentary Secretary for National Defence and Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

For more information, media are invited to contact:

Brett Byers
Communications and Digital Media Manager
613-482-8327 x105
brett.byers@macdonaldlaurier.ca

Tags: AfghanistanChris AlexanderForeign AffairsIndo- PacificPakistansecurityterrorism
Previous Post

Canada’s Way Forward with Taiwan: Charles Burton for Inside Policy

Next Post

Canada has to focus on cultivating growth for new companies: Philip Cross on BNN Bloomberg

Related Posts

Does the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline hurt Indigenous people? Yes: Stephen Buffalo in the Toronto Star
Columns

Is Alberta Oil Ethical? Heather Exner-Pirot in Alberta Views

March 31, 2023
Canada’s rising carbon tax, energy prices and the Supreme Court: Andrew Roman for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

Canada’s rising carbon tax, energy prices and the Supreme Court: Andrew Roman for Inside Policy

March 31, 2023
Another found of trade negotiations with the US: How to avoid surprises – Lawrence L. Herman for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

Another found of trade negotiations with the US: How to avoid surprises – Lawrence L. Herman for Inside Policy

March 31, 2023
Next Post
Canada has to focus on cultivating growth for new companies: Philip Cross on BNN Bloomberg

Canada has to focus on cultivating growth for new companies: Philip Cross on BNN Bloomberg

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Follow us on

Newsletter Signup

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

Inside Policy Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Back Issues
  • Advertising
  • Inside Policy Blog
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.